Jim Hewitt is Acting Chair of CTL beginning July 1, 2015 to August 31, 2015. Professor Hewitt has considerable experience in academic leadership; he has been Associate Chair of the Department since 2010 and Program Coordinator of the Master of Teaching Program since 2011. He has been a member of numerous Department and Institute committees, including the Faculty Council Executive.

Professor Hewitt is a distinguished scholar with research interests that include computer assisted learning, electronic discourse, teacher education, and educational technologies. His research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Education. His teaching activities have included substantive contributions to teacher education and graduate studies. In addition to his work on computers in education, Dr. Hewitt is an avid software programmer and has won multiple awards for his applications on vocabulary analysis. His research interests focus on computer supported learning environments, electronic discourse, distance education, multimedia case studies, teacher education, telementoring, online communities, and educational technologies.

Dr. Hewitt is active with a number of organizations, including the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the Science Teachers Association of Ontario (STAO). He works often as a reviewer for top journals in the field of science education such as the Canadian Journal of Science, the Journal of Learning Sciences and Computer & Education.

In addition to his work with computers in education, Dr. Hewitt is an avid software programmer and has won multiple awards for his applications on vocabulary analysis.